Lace Monitor at Yass River, NSW
Identification history
| Varanus varius | 17 Dec 2019 | wombey | ||
| Varanus varius | 16 Dec 2019 | SueMcIntyre |
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User's notes
Difficult to photograph owing to being high in the tree in the middle of the day. But the uneven banding on the tail indicates lace monitor. Although there have been other records of this species at this locality, this one is notable as it is juvenile, and much smaller than the other individuals reported. This is the first young monitor seen in 15 years.
2 comments
DonFletcher
wrote:
18 Dec 2019
A fortunate and encouraging sighting (Christmas present)! Brian Green has indicated that normally few juvenile goannas are seen (might be in the goanna book.) For example with Rosenberg's in Naas Valley we have marked 70 individuals but only 3 were juveniles (as opposed to hatchlings coming out of nests). Yet it is known that clutches often hatch 5-12 and females lay every year to 3. Thus it seems the large goannas have long-lived adults and low recruitment, but there's also the possibility that the behaviour of juveniles is different, e.g. more arboreal, making them harder to encounter. Anyway, a very unusual encounter.
WillO
wrote:
19 Dec 2019
A great record Sue! Yes terrific news that they are still getting young through to this stage. Comparing it to the size of the eucalyptus leaves (is it a Blakely's Red Gum??) it would be very large juvenile (perhaps a subadult).
Location information
- Maps Gang Gang at Yass River
- Places Yass River, NSW
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 16 Dec 2019 12:58 PM Recorded on
- SueMcIntyre Recorded by
Additional information
- Unknown Gender
Species information
- Varanus varius Scientific name
- Lace Monitor Common name
- Sensitive
- Rare or uncommon native
- Non-Invasive
- 291 images trained Machine learning
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Confirmed by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
